Sierra Leone police arrest senior military officers over ‘coup scare’

Sierra Leone police say they have arrested several persons, including senior military officers in connection with a suspected coup plot.

TheCable reported that there was unrest in the West African country over the recently concluded presidential election.

Julius Bio, the incumbent president of the country, had been declared the winner of the election. 

Bio, a former coup leader, gained 56 percent of the votes cast to defeat Samura Kamara who trailed behind with 41 percent.

However, the All Peoples Congress (APC) which Kamara belongs to, said it “will not accept these fake and cooked up results”.

The APC alleged a lack of transparency and accountability by the country’s electoral commission, and said it “would continue to reject the fabricated result and reaffirm our victory”.

In a statement on Monday, the Sierra Leonean police said it had received intelligence that certain individuals planned to use peaceful protest as a guise to “unleash violent attacks” on citizens.

“In that regard, several arrests have been made and the suspects are assisting the police with the investigations,” the statement added.

Although the statement avoided the word “coup”, the police said it noted with dismay, that despite continued efforts to consolidate hard-won peace and democratic gains, certain individuals continue to undertake actions meant to derail the peace and tranquillity of the country.

The security officials assured that the situation is fully under control and urged citizens to report any suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities.

The coup plot comes days after the military toppled President Mohamed Bazoum in the Niger Republic.

Bio was also absent at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting held on Sunday in Abuja to discuss interventions in the Niger coup.